Casual Outing
| Casual Outing | |
|---|---|
| (Intermission) | |
 | |
| Chapter | “87.1” of 129 (list of chapters) |
| Published | June 8, 2015 |
| Page count | 2 |
| Major characters | Daisy, Paulo |
| Minor characters | Mike, Haley, Ellen |
| Collected in | Volume Five |
| Chapter navigation | |
| ← Boy Toy | Class of 2008 → |
| Read chapter | |
Daisy has one big question for Paulo on their shopping trip: is it true that he might like guys, too? His answer delights her a little too much, and then a passing wave from Mike deflates the both of them.
Synopsis
Fresh from picking out a present for Abbey, Daisy eases into a question about what Paulo said last night. Is it true that he might like guys too? Paulo goes red and admits “U-umm, kind of..” Daisy is over the moon, and within seconds she’s scanning the boys around them and whispering about whether any of them are cute.[1]
Paulo gives it an honest try, squinting hard at the passers-by, but it doesn’t take long before he’s sweating. “I don’t wanna think about it right now, okay?” Daisy backs off without a fuss.[2]
Then Mike calls out, passing by with Haley and his mom, and his cheerful promise to see them both tomorrow stops the conversation dead. Daisy and Paulo freeze, blush, and wave him off. As Mike leaves, Daisy’s smile fades. “Me too,” she says, drooping, while Paulo glances down at her.[2]
Character dynamics
- Daisy and Paulo: Daisy and Paulo can now talk openly about last night’s confession, and Daisy turns out to be a good friend to trust with it. Her support is instant and a bit much, since she’s scouting cute boys before Paulo has even finished blushing. The moment he asks her to drop it, though, she does, no questions asked.[1][2]
- Daisy, Paulo, and Mike: Mike has some kind of hold on both of them, and he plainly has no idea. One friendly hello is all it takes to flatten the afternoon’s easy mood. The two of them freeze and blush, and Daisy’s weary “Me too” as they watch him leave is as close as either of them comes to saying anything out loud.[2]
Trivia & observations
- This is the first time Paulo’s interest in guys is put into plain words on panel. In Boy Toy he never gets further than telling Rachel that Matt is “just a.. new thing for me”, but here Daisy asks the question outright and gets her answer.[1][3]
- Page 2 opens on Paulo gamely trying to rate the boys walking past on demand. Oliver’s entire commentary under the gag reads: “It’s a problem we’ve all faced.”[2]
- Page 2 was the last BCB page ever published with an on-site comments section, a change Oliver announced in that page’s commentary.[2] He’d teased the announcement a page early as “a minor bombshell. One not about polo a gay.”[1]
- Mike’s mom and Haley had already caught Paulo blushing once, back at Mike’s front door in Boy Toy. Here they get to witness a repeat out in public, this time with Daisy joining in.[2][4]
- The authors have said Daisy’s feelings for Mike remained a persistent “obsession” even while she was dating Abbey, which puts her deflated “Me too” in context.[5]
Related chapters
- Boy Toy: In the previous chapter, Matt’s teasing sends Paulo into a quiet crisis over his attraction to guys. He confides in Mike one evening and in Rachel the following afternoon, though the conversation Daisy is asking about happened off-panel sometime after those two.
- Class of 2008: The next chapter picks the Paulo-blushing-at-Mike thread right back up at school. Mike, thrilled about roses from Sandy, hugs a flustered Paulo, and Rachel offers “I’ll give you two a little space..”
- Track Meet: Daisy coaxes Paulo about cute boys all over again two in-comic years later, and that time he actually answers her. He admits that James is “pretty.. .. good-looking”.
- After You: Paulo eventually puts words to what’s eating Daisy here. He tells Lucy that months after she left, Daisy “made it clear that she STILL wasn’t over Mike.”